An appropriate image for a first posting on my new blog here. The Earth Turtle was one of my first and most magical creations.
Created in the summer of 2001 I was sitting at my kitchen table in a small rustic cabin along Dead Indian Memorial Road. I remember thinking to myself, “Now I am going to create something absolutely great. I am going to open up a door into another world and pull out an amazing image which people will absolutely love.” I am setting an intention of love. I began to draw and the Earth Turtle was born. (This is not my typical starting point – But however interesting for this project)
The original drawing was done on an 8.5 x 5.5 piece of copy paper and took me about 45 minutes. I then used prisma color pencils and micron pens to color and ink the final drawing. When I get some time in the future I will include the picture right here as well as sell the signed original.
(((Hey, Shields – Put Original Earth Turtle Here – People Are Waiting)))
After the creation of the Earth Turtle I was always in pursuit of being able to surpass the popularity of its creation. No matter what format this turtle was in, on a journal, greeting card, shirt or clock. The image ALWAYS sold, and it almost ALWAYS sold first.
Once I saw the popularity of the image in original format, I decided to refine it down to the essence. I wanted to see if it could work better. I took the image and transposed it into adobe illustrator. It continued to gather attention and was once again a success.
I’m not sure if people just love turtles or if there really was some magic that occurred at it’s birth, and for this purpose the image holds my curiosity.
Considering that this image has been enjoyed by so many people It is now available as an open edition poster.